A big part of gaming's best year, the BioShock franchise debuted all the way back in 2007, and it made quite the impact. Taking the lessons he'd learned from System Shock, Ken Levine led his team at Irrational Games in creating one of the most atmospheric horror games ever made, with a plot twist that's still talked about today. Though BioShock 2 isn't quite as fondly remembered, it's still a solid title that leans closer to the series' action elements, and BioShock Infinite received monumental praise at launch for its setting, gameplay, and intriguingly complex story. But the BioShock series has been on quite the hiatus.
BioShock Infinite hit store shelves in March 2013, making it almost ten whole years since the series' last release. And even if fans want to count the remastered BioShock: The Collection, it's been almost seven years since fans have seen BioShock content of any kind. But that doesn't mean the franchise is dead in the water. Back in 2019, a fourth BioShock game was officially confirmed to be in development, and if fans are lucky, they may hear more about it in 2023.
BioShock 4 Could Finally Be Revealed This Year
Back in 2019, a Tweet from the official 2K account formally announced that a new BioShock game was now in development, and that it would take "several years" before it was ready to be released. While fans have lovingly dubbed it "BioShock 4" the official title of the game has not been confirmed, though it'll likely be something similar to the last entry in the series, being "BioShock" then followed by a subtitle. It has been confirmed that this game will be a full fourth entry in the franchise, and not a spin-off, presumably carrying over the series' iconic steampunk, art deco-inspired visuals and darker contemplative themes.
In September 2021, the now-infamous Nvidia leak surfaced on the internet. For those unaware, this leak included a list of countless games, all supposedly set to release within the next few years. While the authenticity of this list is still being debated even all these years later, there have been some projects included in the leak that have since been confirmed, including Kingdom Hearts 4 and God of War on PC among a good few others. BioShock 4 was also included in this list, with a scheduled release date of 2022. This obviously didn't happen, and while fans shouldn't read into it too much, this could suggest some development issues. According to a leak by Sacred Symbols' Colin Moriarty back in December 2021, BioShock 4 will be set in a brand-new dystopian city, possibly in the Antarctic during the 1960s.
In February 2022, a big BioShock 4 leak came to light. This leak suggested that 2K was unhappy with BioShock 4's development, stating that the relatively new developer Cloud Chamber was taking too long and the final results weren't of a high enough quality. It was also rumored that BioShock 4's developer lost around 40 employees, including some members of the game's leadership team, apparently delaying the project quite a bit. Of course, this is all speculation, but it would explain why fans haven't even seen anything from BioShock 4 yet. 2023 could finally be the year that BioShock 4 is fully revealed in all its glory.
BioShock 4 Might Have to Compete With Ken Levine's Judas
Having not seen or heard anything from BioShock 4 since 2019, it's about time that 2K fully pulled the curtain back on the dormant franchise, especially now that Ken Levine has beat BioShock to the gate. After taking some time out of the industry to recover from the troubled development of BioShock Infinite, Ken Levine has now revealed his next gaming project. Revealed at the 2022 Game Awards, Judas is Levine's first game since Burial at Sea, and it looks to be borrowing a lot of elements from the BioShock franchise. And with BioShock 4 still nowhere to be seen, fans are likely to put their focus on the project that's going to give them a similar experience, and the one that releases sooner.
BioShock 4 is in development.